Photo by Al Schreitmueller
Annapolis to Newport: Wow! What a race. Find full results here. Congratulations to all skippers, crew, and the RC.
Starting Under New Format
A new starting format for the Annapolis to Newport race welcomed many first-time participants as well as veteran skippers and crew in the 35th edition of this classic sailboat race between two great sailing towns.
For the first time, the boats were divided into two groups, with the slower boats starting on Thursday and the faster ones on Friday. On each day all classes started together. That meant the line had to be long enough to accommodate 33 boats Thursday and 39 boats Friday, so the RC marked it with three committee boats including one at the center point. The goal of the two-day starting format was to have the boats all arrive in Newport at approximately the same time, and the plan was generally successful. Another new twist was the addition of a performance sailing class. This was a great success and prompted many new-to-the-race skippers to join the fleet.
Both starts took place in similar conditions, with 10-12 knots blowing from the northeast on Thursday and 12-14 knots from the north on Friday. Although the weather was a bit dreary with low, cloudy skies and occasional drizzle, racers enjoyed a favorable tide and a steady breeze that set up the boats for a nice long downwind run. For spectators, it was thrilling to watch 30-something boats cross the line cleanly and throw up their colorful kites.
Out into the Atlantic
Many in the fleet enjoyed a quick run down the Bay, although some competitors experienced winds that lightened. Meanwhile the dreary weather continued. “It was very foggy and difficult to see the first ocean mark, Bell 2 N,” recalls Charlie Illiff, navigator on Alaris, the first boat in the Classic/Corinthian class to leave the Bay. “We went inside of it because our Garmin charts didn’t have the most recent updates and didn’t show that the government had replaced the old mark with a new one. We were watching the Navy boats and others going farther south, and that’s when my brother Nick picked up the new mark on his smartphone. We had to backtrack to make sure we rounded it properly.”
At least two boats (the J/111 Bad Cat and the J/46 Medley) were forced to retire after a squall brought strong winds that tore their mainsails. Medley skipper Mike Boylan recalls, “After we rounded Chesapeake Light, the wind went very light. We were just trying to keep the boat moving with our 155 percent. Around 4 p.m. we could see Bad Cat ahead of us, and EuroTrash Girl, Chaotic Flux, Shinnecock, and Heron a little more east. We were looking forward to a shower and some breeze but saw what was coming was more threat than opportunity. The wind went very quickly from two to three knots to much heavier. We put up our number three jib and pulled down our 155 percent, struggling as the squall was getting to us. I wasn’t looking at the instruments but one of the crew said the last time he looked, we were in the 50’s. Then we got the strong gusts, as we struggled to get the main down. I’ve been in 50-60 before, but these gusts felt much higher than what I had experienced. It felt longer, but the worst of it was probably over in about 20 minutes. Our main tore near the leach line in multiple spots, and we lost some hardware.” Two more vessels, Oakcliff Racing-Bo Dream and Dolphin, were also forced to retire due to damage sustained in the same squall.
Heading North
For most racers, it was a beat up the coast in fairly heavy air and wet, lumpy conditions. “I think pretty much every boat in the fleet experienced some combination of cold, sick, and wet,” says Illiff. “It was pretty hard work for a couple of days, and for a while it was blowing 25 on the nose.” Illiff, who is pretty sure Alaris had the oldest crew of any boat in the fleet, says “We are all in our 60s and 70s. The youngest person aboard was our cook, and she is a grandmother who had never been offshore. It was the first time anyone on our boat had been double reefed; usually when it blows that hard, we go home, but that wasn’t an option. I asked myself, ‘What am I doing out here?’ Fortunately we managed to handle the breeze competently,” he concludes modestly. Alaris was sailed more than just competently; she won her class, although her crew hadn’t raced offshore for approximately 30 years. For more about Alaris and her crew, see the February 2015 edition of SpinSheet.
Kelly O’Toole, who flies the spinnaker on Sabre 426 Nanuq, also recalls some uncomfortable conditions, but says it was all worth it. “We only saw one beautiful sunset, but the wonderful feeling of completing this kind of race makes you forget the rest. Our boat has a saying that wool is good and cotton stinks, and that was certainly the case in this race. But as we finished, my son who was also aboard said, ‘This has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I’m glad you were a part of it, Mom.’ The feeling you have when you finish, especially with a family-oriented boat like Nanuq, makes you forget any discomfort you experienced along the way.” Nanuq was one of many Bay boats that experienced success. Skippered by Glenn Doncaster of Fishing Bay YC, she was the second boat across the line off Castle Hill Light.
Finish
The tough beat north finally ended, and the fleet arrived at the finish line in Narragansett Bay, with the first boats finishing Sunday evening. Pursuit, a custom 48-foot boat skippered by Norman Dawley was first to cross with an elapsed time of three days, four hours, and 56 minutes, placing third under ORR scoring behind Akela III (Roel Hoekstra) and Actaea (Michael Cone). Decision, skippered by Stephen Murray, took first place in IRC I with local pro Geoff Ewenson aboard as navigator.
Many local boats had podium finishes. Paul Milo sailed Orion to third in IRC 2, and in PHRF 1, Chesapeake boats captured the top three spots, with Stephen McManus’s Saykadoo first, James Praley’s Shinnecock second, and Greg Leonard’s Heron third. In PHRF 2, Kyle Briggs skippered Navy’s Swift to first, and Glenn Doncaster’s Nanuq took second. In Performance Cruising 1 Eric Kessler skippered Sea Dacha to first and Rick Kundle’s R.F.S. Patriot placed third. In Performance Cruising 2, Bay boats captured the top three spots with Testing Life (Brian Mulhall) first, Huck’s Finn (Jeff Leigh) second, and The Office (Joel Aronson) third. And in the Classic/Corinthian Class, Alaris (Mike Cranfield/Nick Illff) captured first, and Solstice (Beth Berry) took second.
Testing Life took home the new Youth Challenge Award. Skipper Brian Mulhull says, “My wife had a dream that we’d win the Youth Challenge, and she was correct. This prize means the most to us because one of my ten commandments of sailing is to bring young people into the sport. We had a great run down the Bay, and I credit the young guys with our success. I told them, ‘Your job is to get us out of the Bay.’ They were on their game trimming the whole way and had us in phenomenal position coming out of the Bay.” The three young trimmers were Mulhull’s son Cameron, age 19, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland students Jake Wolf, age 22, and Will Faison, age 23, both of whom Mulhull picked up off the A2N crew listing board.
For the crew of Alaris being awarded the C. Gaither Scott trophy was personally very meaningful. A relatively new award, this trophy has become one of the most coveted prizes because it recognizes the spirit of corinthian competition. It is named in honor of C. Gaither Scott, a longtime Annapolis YC race committee chairman. “To be awarded the Gaither Scott Trophy is a tremendous honor. We knew Gaither and raced against Gaither and know what a great man he was and the contributions he made to sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay and beyond,” says Iliff. “I think Gaither would be happy that we won the award that bears his name.”
